Know Your Client (KYC), Working with informational interviews
DESN2003: Research for Innovation, Week Seven
Reflecting on Literature Review Submissions
How did we do with the literature reivew (Doc 0.1) submissions
- Basic stats:
- Median word counts: 1611
- Median # of citations: 12
- Avg. paragraph: 5
- The Goods
- The Not-so-greats
- Lacks synergies with literature reviews in relevant fields
- formatting
- lengths
- contains conclusions
- Limited theoretical framework/backing
Quick flash back on Document 1 submission
- Research-paper like
- ~80% of work needed to draft a research paper as it contains:
- Abstract
- Literature Review
- Methodology
- Hypothesis/Anticipated Conclusions
- Relevant References
- How is this different from a research proposal?
Setting Expectation
- Neither should bear agenda to secure job offer
- Learn and build connections
- Experience informational interview as a long-term investment
- Start building/expanding professional network
- The group project is a teaser of what you will likely experience going further into your career (irregardless of disciplines)
Identify Person(s) of Intersts
- Who to reach out to?
- Industry Leaders and Role Models
- Alumni Network
- Professional Associations
- Utilizing LinkedIn:
- Advanced Sesarch Features
- Filter professionals by industry, company, role and even location
- LinkedIn Groups: Join groups of related interests.
- How to narrow scope of search?
- Finding Common Grounds
- Shared Interests
- Recent Publications or Talks
- Leverage Existing Connections: Academic/Industry
- Demo
Crafting Effective Cold Messages
Key Components:
- Subject Line: Clear and engaging subject line that conveys the purpose of the message.
- Personalized Greetings: Use the receipient’s name and personalized remark/compliment on recent accomplishments;
- Introduction and Purpose: brief but effective.
- Purpose Statement: seek advice, insights, experiences related to field of interest;
- Make Connection: highlight commonalities shared with receipient
- Experss Genuine Intersts
- Specific Request: Call to Action with Flexibility
- Politeness and Conciseness
- Closing and Signature
Let’s checkout some examples. Give a probability that you will respond to a message that you receive on LinkedIn. (3 Examples)
Reaching Out:
- Platform Etiquette:
- Norms and best practices for different platforms (LinkedIn, email, professional forums)
- Initial outreach varies accordingly
- Professional Channels:
- using professional channels for communication is important
- make sure your profiles on these platforms are up-to-date and professional.
- What do we mean by professional?
Timing and Frequency:
- Optimal Timing:
- best times to send messages: avoiding weekends, late nights, and major holidays
- the likelihood of a timely response improves accordingly.
- Follow-up Strategy:
- follow-up strategy involves a waiting period (typically 1-2 weeks)
- a polite follow-up message if there’s no initial response.
Reaching Out (Continued)
Managing Outreach Volume:
- Tracking System:
- set up a simple tracking system (like a spreadsheet) to monitor whom you’ve contacted,
- when, and any responses or follow-up actions needed.
- Balanced Approach:
- ideally no mass messaging.
- a balanced, targeted approach to outreach,
- focusing on quality and personalization over quantity.
Dealing with Responses:
Positive Responses:
- Immediate Acknowledgment:
- respond promptly to positive replies,
- expressing gratitude for the willingness to engage and
- proposing potential times for the chat or meeting.
- Preparation:
- being well-prepared for the interaction,
- with specific questions and goals in mind.
Negative or No Responses:
- Handling Rejection:
- not everyone will have the time or interest to respond
- it’s not a reflection of their worth or the quality of their outreach.
- aka it might be very frustrating.
- Learning from Silence:
- how would a lack of response offer learning opportunities?
- should you change your outreach strategy or message content?
Know Your Client (KYC)
Do your homework so that you do not make mistakes.
Research Basics
- Background Check: reviewing linkedin profile, professional biographies, recent publications, news mentions.
- social engineering (Searching, 2018)
- Understanding their work:
- familiarize with the professional’s role/projects/contributions
- understanding the context and significance of their work
Contextual Undersatnding
- Know the Industry: major trends, challenges and opportunities
- Company Culture: culture and values of where they work/associate with for talking points
Know Your Client (KYC) Cont’d
Preparing Questions: Structured/Semi-structured
- Informed Questions: Informed and Open-Ended, reflecting their research and curiosity about the professional
- Personalized Inquiry: avoid overly general or easily Google-able questions
- Object-Oriented: what do you want to achieve through the interviews
- get first-hand critique on the discipline
- know what day-to-day is like at the particular industry
- Set an agenda: what will happen if you don’t have one?
Take 10min to social-engineer a professional
- do research on a potential interviewee that you might be interested in investigating
- you should cover at least the following:
- their professional role
- list out companies they worked for
- their career highlight/work most proud of
- identify interviews/podcasts/presentation where they gave public opinion and based on those
- come up with two questions that you think is relevant to ask
Meet Your Client
Showing Engagement:
- Active Engagement:
- active listening,
- showing interest through body language (in person or on video calls), and
- asking follow-up questions based on the discussion.
- Note-taking:
- taking brief notes during the conversation (with permission) to capture key points and advice,
- demonstrates engagement and respect for the professional’s insights.
Respect and Professionalism:
- Time Management:
- be mindful of the agreed-upon time for the conversation and
- to avoid overextending unless the professional indicates they’re willing to continue.
- Confidentiality:
- the need to respect any confidential or sensitive information shared during the conversation.
Meet Your Client (Continued)
Post-Interaction Reflection:
Reflective Practice:
- Review and Reflect:
- review their notes and reflect on the conversation soon after,
- identifying key learnings and any follow-up actions they might take.
- Feedback Loop:
- consider what went well and what could be improved for future interactions
- mindset of continuous improvement.
Mock Interview (If we have time ~ 15min)
- one-on-one practice: professional vs. student interviewer
- work together and determine who the professional will shadow (a real person)
- KYC on industry/persona individually
- student interviewer to come up with 3 questions as structured interview and one follow-up during the conversation
- student/professional to swap (if we have time)
Seminar Time: Back to Report Submission with Doc 0.1
Activities
- Vote to review one literature review that was submitted (anonymized on mentimeter).
- Selected literature reviewed by peers with the following criteria:
- Objective: Does the literature review sufficiently present its objective?
- Landscape: Do you think the literature review presented a clear theoretical framework of what are the relevant studies and state-of-the art research landscape?
- Caveat/Importance: Does the literature review present any clear indication that there is room for investigation of any existing caveats?
- Citations: Do you think the number of citations included is enough/adequate?
- Improvements: Anything that the author can do to strengthen the literature review?
- Challenge: On the topics that were discussed in the literature review, can you quickly leverage google scholar to find additional ones that investigates similar things?
- We will review the remainder three of the five documents (so long as time permits) for this week.
Addendum: Checklist for successful literature review
1. Clarity and Coherence:
- Clear Objective: Define the specific goals and scope of the literature review.
- Logical Structure: Organize content in a logical manner, facilitating easy navigation and understanding.
- Language and Terminology: Use clear, concise language appropriate for an interdisciplinary audience, avoiding unnecessary jargon.
2. Problem Statement and Importance:
- Well-defined Issue: Clearly articulate the problem or research question the literature review addresses.
- Significance: Explain the importance and relevance of the problem within the context of design and computer science.
- Gap Identification: Highlight gaps or shortcomings in existing research that the literature review aims to address.
Addendum: Checklist for successful literature review (Cont’d)
3. Theoretical Framework:
- Conceptual Underpinnings: Present the theories or models that underlie the research area.
- Framework Integration: Demonstrate how the theoretical framework informs the literature review’s approach and analysis.
- Interdisciplinary Relevance: Ensure the framework is relevant and accessible to both design and computer science perspectives.
4. Comprehensive Coverage:
- Breadth and Depth: Cover a wide range of sources while diving deep into critical studies.
- Diverse Sources: Include academic journals, conference papers, books, and reputable online resources relevant to both fields.
- Timeliness: Ensure the inclusion of both foundational texts and recent research to reflect the current state of knowledge.
5. Critical Analysis:
- Comparative Analysis: Compare and contrast different studies, highlighting similarities and differences.
- Methodological Evaluation: Assess the methodologies used in key studies for their strengths and limitations.
- Theoretical Critique: Critically evaluate the theories discussed in the literature for their applicability and limitations in the interdisciplinary context.
Addendum: Checklist for successful literature review (Cont’d)
6. Synthesis:
- Thematic Organization: Synthesize literature thematically rather than summarizing each source individually.
- Insight Generation: Derive new insights or perspectives from the synthesis of the reviewed literature.
- Interdisciplinary Integration: Fuse insights from design and computer science to create a cohesive understanding.
7. Relevance to Research Question:
- Alignment: Ensure all reviewed literature contributes to answering the research question or addressing the problem statement.
- Application: Discuss how findings from the literature review apply to the specific intersection of design and computer science.
8. Source Evaluation:
- Credibility Assessment: Evaluate the credibility and reliability of each source.
- Bias and Perspective: Acknowledge potential biases in the literature and strive for a balanced perspective.
Addendum: Checklist for successful literature review (Cont’d)
9. Conclusions and Implications:
- Summary of Findings: Concisely summarize key findings and their implications for the research area.
- Future Research Directions: Identify areas where further research is needed, especially at the intersection of design and computer science.
10. Documentation and Referencing:
- Consistent Formatting: Adhere to a consistent citation style appropriate for the interdisciplinary audience.
- Accurate Citations: Ensure all sources are accurately cited within the text and in the reference list.
11. Reflection on Interdisciplinarity:
- Integration Challenges: Discuss any challenges encountered in integrating design and computer science literature and how they were addressed.
- Value of Interdisciplinary Approach: Reflect on how the interdisciplinary approach enriches the understanding of the topic.
Revisiting Report Submission
- Document 0: Research Statement (Extended Abstract)
- Document 0.1: Literature Review
- Document 0.2: Methodology & Data Needed/Collected: Due Mar 23rd
- Document 1: Research Proposal(Paper-like): Due Apr. 23rd
Resaerch Process in Flow Chart
Checklist for your final research proposal/paper submission
Elements that you’ve finalized:
- Research Problem Definition (Doc 0):
- Articulated innovative challenge or aspect addressed.
- Contextualized within industry/societal needs.
- Relevant Concepts and Theories (Doc 0.1):
- Reviewed key theories underpinning the innovation area.
- Included interdisciplinary approaches.
- Previous Research Findings (Doc 0.1):
- Highlighted past innovations and research.
- Noted successes and gaps for building upon/addressing.
Ready to be finalized:
- Hypothesis Formulation (Doc 0.2):
- Developed clear, testable hypotheses predicting innovation outcomes.
- Research Design Formulation (Doc 0.2):
- Outlined approapriate research methodologies/technologies to be used.
- Discussed feasibility and potential impact of proposed research design.
Research Progress Check
Insofar, Your Design Should Provide:
- Evidence for Hypothesis:
- Detailed data collection/analysis plan for hypothesis testing.
- Consideration on data sources/appropriate technologies deployed in their collection.
- Significance:
- Connected significance to societal/industry/academic trends.
- Highlighted contribution to knowledge/innovation advancement.
- Implementation and Scalability:
- Discuss real-world implementation pathways.
- Address potential scalability barriers.
- Ethical Considerations and Sustainability:
- Outline ethical considerations of the innovation.
- Address sustainability of the proposed solution.
Final Step in Finalizing Research
As Finalizing the Proposal (Doc 1):
- Integration and Synthesis:
- Ensured alignment of all proposal components with innovation/research goals.
- Stakeholder Engagement:
- Identified key stakeholders: beneficiaries, participants, impacted communities.
- Included stakeholder engagement plans: evidencing the effectiveness of proposed solution/design
- Consideration of Future Directions:
- Speculated on future research directions to further the innovation.
Minard’s plot
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Napoleon Invasion of Russia
Topics that we could cover:
- Scales of data
- Omission and inclusion of data that speaks
- Different quantitative plots thereof
- Woring with the temporal dimensions
- Goods and bads of 3D plot